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J. B. JOHNSON. Electrical Railway Signal.

Patented May 24, 1881,

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' UNITED, ifSTATEs PATENT OFFICEQ JOHN B. JOHNSON, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO ARTHUR P. WILSON, OF SAME PLAOE.

ELECTRICAL RAI l .WAY-SIGNAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 242,097, dated May 24, 1881.

Application filed January 31, 1881.

Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, haveinvented certain Im provements in Electric Railroad-Signals, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a magneto-generator employed in an electric railway-signal having a rotating armature adapted to be Operated by mechanism which is set for action by the V Heretofore said mechanism has been constructed to operate the magneto-generator after the wheels of the train have ceased to act on said mechanism. The mechanism has been of such construction that in case the train should be moving very slowly,

or should chance to stop while setting the mechanism, no effective rotation of the armature will take place, for the reason that a portion of the mechanism is a lever arranged to be depressed by the wheels of the train, and so connected to the other parts of the mechanism that it requires to assume its original position during the rotation of the armature, and it impeded and caused to slowly assume such position by a slowly-moving car-wheel the rotation of the armature will be correspondingly retarded and rendered useless.

The object of my invention is to enable the mechanism which directly drives the armature to be abruptly released or detached from the mechanism operated'by the wheels of the train of cars to set said driving mechanism, so that said driving mechanism may be released and put in effective action immediately upon being set, the mechanism in rotating the armature being in no way dependent on the rate of motion of the train of cars.

To this end my invention consists in the combination, with a magneto-generator having a rotating armature, of mechanism for driving said armature, mechanism operated by a passing train of cars to set said driving mechanism for action, and a tripping or releasing de- (No model.)

this specification, represents a transverse section of a railroad-track and an elevation of mechanism embodying my invention.

In carrying out my invention I employ a magneto-generator, A, having a suitable rotatin g armature, B. The driving mechanism for operating the generator, the mechanism wh ereby said driving mechanism is set for action, and the tripping or releasing devices may be various] y constructed but the best form of which lam at present aware is that shown in the drawing.

The driving mechanism is composed of a gearwheel, a, on an arbor, a,journaled in a suitable fixed frame, and meshing with a pinion, b, on the shaft 0 of the rotating armature, a ratchetwheel, 6, on the arbor a, said ratchet and the gear-wheel a being connected so as to rotate together, an arm, f, pivoted on the arbor a and bearin a (log, y, and a spring, h, arranged to draw the arm f upwardly and cause the dog {J to engage with and rotate the ratchet e.

The mechanism for setting said driving mechanism for action consists of a primary lever, t, pivoted at j near the track It, and having its outer end in such proximity to the track as to be depressed by the wheels of cars passing over the track, asecondary lever, l, pivoted at m, and having one end projecting over the lever i, and arranged to be operated by the latter, the levers i I being preferably connected by a link, and a IOll, o, pivoted at p to the lever l and provided with a tooth, 4, adapted to project over a pin, 8, on the arm f.

The tripping or releasing device consists of a projection, u,'on the rod 0 and a fixed object or stop, v, arranged to come in contact with the projection a when the latter descends. w represents a spring to press the rod 0 against the stop 1;.

The operation of my invention is as follows: A car-wheel passing over the track It depresses one end of the leveri on its pivot and depresses the rod 0. The hook r, bearing on the pin 8, depresses the arm f and extends the spring h. When the projection u reaches the stop 0, in the descent of the rod 0, said stop and projection cause the rod to move laterally until the hook r releases the pin s. The arm f is thus freed and is drawn upwardly by the spring h, causing the dog 9 to rotate the ratchet e and the armature B.

It will be seen, therefore, that as soon as the generator-drivin g mechanism is set for action it is released and operates instantaneously, without waiting for the lever 2' to rise to its normal position. It follows, therefore, that should the train of cars stop while the lever z is depressed by one of the car-wheels, or if the train should move at so slow a rate that the return of the lever i to its normal position shouldbe correspondingly slow, the operation of the generator would be equally as vigorous and effective as if the train were moving at full speed. My invention therefore provides against the contingency of the operation of the generator being prevented or rendered ineifectual by the stoppage or slow motion of the train. After the train has passed the parts of the mechanism are returned to the positions shown by a spring, 2, under the outer end of the lever 2', the levers i and I being suitably connected, so that the spring 2 will move the lever land raise the rod 0, causing its hook 1' to engage again with the pin 8.-

I do not confine myself to the use of a spring as a motor for rotating the armature, it being obvious that a weight may be employed instead of the spring, the weight being adapted to be raised by the action of the wheels of the train of cars.

As I am already an applicant with Orville B. Johnson for Letters Patent for improvements in electric railroad-signals, which application was filed November 24, 1 880, No. 21,094, I disclaim, in connection with my present invention, the combination, with a magneto-generator, of mechanism for operating said generator adapted and arranged to be set for action by a passing train, and to be automatically put in action as the train ceases to act upon it, said combination being claimed in the application filed by me jointly with Orville B. Johnson, as aforesaid.

I claim- In combination with a magneto-generator having a rotating armature, mechanism for driving said armature, mechanism operated by a passing train of cars to set said driving mechanism for action, and a tripping or releasing device whereby said driving mechanism is abruptly released from the setting mechanism and put in operation.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses, this 29th day of January, A. D. 1881.

JOHN B. JOHNSON.

Witnesses 0. B. JOHNSON, (J. F. BROWN. 

